The Canadian Securities Administrator (CSA) and the Investment
Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC, together with
the CSA, the "Regulators") are
soliciting insight on how Canada should best regulate crypto-asset
trading platforms ("Platforms").
On March 14, 2019, the Regulators jointly released Consultation
Paper 21-402 Proposed Framework for Crypto-Asset Trading
Platforms (the "Paper"), which
proposes a framework of tailored regulatory requirements (the
"Proposed Framework") to address novel
features and risks of trading in crypto-assets.
The Paper notes there are over 2,000 crypto-assets trading on
over 200 Platforms, many of which operate with no regulatory
oversight. Existing securities legislation may apply to certain
Platforms if the investor's contractual right to the
crypto-asset is found to constitute a security or a derivative,
however the evaluation of whether a security or derivative may be
involved is unclear.
